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Typical ball signal construction Crossarms 3"x 6" x 9'-0" Mast, 4"x 8" approximately 32'-0" tall 36" pulleys and bearings, Grandt Line Rope, heavy button thread Nut-boltwasher castings Stripwood angle braces Balls, painted bright red Steps, spikes driven into alternate sides of mast Lantern hung in cardstock frame Steel angle, 36" lengths Pivots, single lag bolts (nut-bolt-washer castings) Arms pivot downward Illustration by Rick Johnson Historic background Ball signals were introduced as aids to ocean navigation, where they were widely used as tide signals to relay water depth to ships entering a harbor from the sea. The first use of ball signals by a North American railroad dates to the 1830s on the 20-mile-long New Castle & French Town RR in Delaware. Although used throughout the United States, they lasted the longest on New England railroads. – L.S. from a Grandt Line O scale Chama coal chute detail kit (no. 3046), while the lanterns are from Caboose Industries’ tall switch stands enclosed in simulated metal frames made of heavy cardstock. Heavy button thread represents the prototype’s cables.MR Lou Sassi is a prolific author and photographer of model railroads. His most recent book is How to Build and Detail Model Railroad Scenes vol. 2, available from Kalmbach Books. The crossing tender is changing the number of signal balls he will display to clear the route Boston & Maine engine no. 1731 will take as it passes through Whitefield, N.H. in July 1978. The brackets beneath the balls are used to hold kerosene lanterns to display night indications. Robert Gabbey photo Sometime in the 1930s, this signal displaying two balls authorized the arrival of a SR&RL train at Phillips, Maine. Edward Bond took the undated photo. o8/o9 • Model Railroader 43